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AP ENGLISH IV: SUMMER WORK
Dear AP English IV Student,
To prepare more thoroughly for AP English IV, summer reading is needed. This summer you will read the classic
novels Jane Eyre and Frankenstein. Below you will find three assignments you will need to complete while and
after reading the books. They are:
1. A Quotation Journal
2. Rhetorical/Literary Device Log
3. One Literary Essay
All of this work will be due the first day of class, August 24, 2015.
If you need to contact me during the summer with questions regarding the reading or work, you may reach me via
email through the address < [email protected] >.
Best,
Mr. Peters
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ESSAY ASSIGNMENT:
Respond to ONE of the following prompts with a well-developed multi-paragraph essay that uses evidence from one
or both of the summer reading texts in support. Do not summarize! The paper should be typed, double-spaced, and
use Times New Roman or Courier New 12pt fonts. It should include specific passages or quotations from the
summer reading in support. When doing so, follow proper MLA parenthetical citation style—with (Author’s last
name page #), such as “(Johnson 23)”. Your essay should also include a formal MLA Works Cited page crediting the
book(s) used in your paper. The paper should follow proper MLA Format. (A good guide to learn about MLA Format
is through Purdue University Online Writing Lab—or Purdue OWL—online. The Purdue OWL website is easily
found through Google, but a link also can be found through my webpage.)
1. Contrast the portrayal of women in the two novels, examining particularly the portrayal of Jane from Jane
Eyre and Elizabeth from Frankenstein. How does the portrayal of women illuminate the meaning of both
works?
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2. Prometheus was a Titan who so cared for mankind that he gave fire to mankind against the will of the God
Zeus. Zeus punished Prometheus by having him chained against a mountain, doomed to have an eagle eat
out his liver every day.
Mary Shelley titled her story Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus. How does Frankenstein contrast
with the Prometheus of Greek myth? Explain how this departure is significant for the meaning of
Frankenstein as a whole.
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3. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes declared famously that primitive man’s life was “solitary, poor,
nasty, brutish, and short.” Part of his argument focused on the idea that mankind was naturally given to
selfishness and needed law and society to become a live in harmony with his fellow man.
How does Frankenstein contradict this idea? Explain why this contradiction is important for the meaning of
Frankenstein as a whole?
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4. Palestinian American literary theorist and cultural critic Edward Said has written that “Exile is strangely
compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being
and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Yet
Said has also said that exile can become “a potent, even enriching” experience.
Write an essay in which you analyze how the Jane’s experience with exile in Jane Eyre is both alienating
and enriching, and how this experience illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole.
***
5. Many works of literature not readily identifiable as a mystery or detective story genre nevertheless involve
the investigation of a mystery. In these works, the solution to the mystery may be less important than the
knowledge gained during the investigation.
Identify the mystery in Jane Eyre and explain how that mystery illuminates the meaning of the work as a
whole.
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QUOTATION JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT:
For this assignment you will record quotations that you found personally meaningful and significant for the overall
meaning of the book from each of the novels you read this summer. You need to record FIFTEEN quotations per
book. The quotations should be at least two sentences in length. Record the page number where you found the
quotation after recording the quotation.
After you record a quotation, write four to six sentences. In these sentences you need to describe why the passage is
meaningful to you personally. Then you need to explain why the passage is particularly significant for the meaning
of the book.
EXAMPLE:
QUOTATION
EXPLANATION
“How can I move thee? Will no entreaties cause
thee to turn a favourable eye upon thy creature,
who implores thy goodness and compassion?
Believe me, Frankenstein; my soul glowed with
love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably
alone.”
This quotation impacted me significantly. It is a
heartrending moment, when the Creature draws
a direct connection between his mistreatment
and his later evil acts. It shows the Creature’s
natural goodness and the tragic nature of his
fall, a fall caused largely by neglect, something I
can see in kids who are neglected by their
parents. This quote is also important for the
overall meaning of Frankenstein because it
demonstrates that the Creature was once
“benevolent”—or good—and only fell and became
“evil” through the neglect and abuse by his
master and society. It is a scathing indictment of
humanity’s ability to engender evil in others
through mistreatment.
Page: 87
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RHETORICAL LITERARY DEVICE LOG
For this assignment, find TWELVE passages or quotations from each book that contain either rhetorical or literary
devices (see device list below). Record each passage and the rhetorical or literary device contained in it; then, in
three to four sentences describe the effect that the device has upon the meaning the book.
PASSAGE
DEVICE(S)
EFFECT
“Beware; for I am fearless, and
therefore powerful. I will watch
with the wiliness of a snake,
that I may sting with its
venom.”
Metaphor & Symbolism
The literary devices have many
effects. For one, metaphor
compares Frankenstein’s
creature to a snake, showing
the seriousness with which the
monster takes the charge he
has given Frankenstein,
stressing that there would be
severe negative consequences if
Frankenstein refused to create
another creature. Two, since
the snake is a frequent symbol
for evil—or the devil in
Christian tradition—it
continues the presentation of
the creature as evil—or as
Frankenstein’s fallen angel— in
the text.
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RHETORICAL AND LITERARY DEVICES
Alliteration: repetition of the same initial consonant sound at the beginning of words
(Sally sells seashells.)
Allusion: Reference from a person, place, or event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, etc.
Anaphora: repetition at the beginning of lines
(We fought. We struggled. We conquered.)
Apostrophe: addressing an abstraction, idea, or personification that is not physically present as if it were capable of
hearing.
Cacophony: a harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds
Character (Static): a character who stays the same throughout a text
Character (Dynamic): a character that changes by the end of a text
Characterization (Indirect): when an author reveals a character’s personality through the way a character dresses or
looks, speaks and acts, thinks and feels, and the way others respond to the character
Characterization (Direct): when an author reveals a character by stating directly what his or her personality is like
Dialect: way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular group of people
Diction: an author’s pr speaker’s choice of words
Hyperbole: figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion or to create comic effect
Idiom: (or idiomatic expression) a phrase or expression in one language that cannot be matched or directly
translated word-for-word in another language. The phrase or expression cannot be understood literally; instead, it
has a cultural meaning (such as “to kick the bucket”, “raining cats and dogs”, etc.)
Imagery: language that appeals to the senses
Irony (dramatic): the reader or audience knows something that the character in a story or play does not know
Irony (situational): a contradiction between what we expect to happen and what really does take place
Irony (verbal): a writer or speaker says one thing but really means something completely different
Metaphor: figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, without the use of the words “like”
or “as”
Metaphor (extended): a common metaphor that continues its comparison for a reasonable length of time
Motif: a word, character, object, image, metaphor, or idea that recurs in a work.
Onomatopoeia: the use of words that sound like what they mean
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Oxymoron: where an author uses contradictory or contrasting concepts placed together in a manner that actually
ends up making sense
Parallelism: the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural
similarity
Personification: kind of metaphor in which a nonhuman thing is talked about as if it were human
Repetition: purposely repeating a word or phrase to emphasize
Rhetorical question: question that does not require an answer but is rather used to make a point
Simile: figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things by using the words “like” or “as”
Symbol: person, place, or thing that stands for itself and for something beyond itself (something abstract)
Understatement: expressing an idea with less emphasis or in a lesser degree than is the actual case (the opposite of
hyperbole)